Fawad Khan, Sanam Saeed’s ‘Barzakh’ Sets Streaming Date (EXCLUSIVE)

Naman Ramachandran Series “Barzakh,” starring top Pakistani actors Fawad Khan and Sanam Saeed, has unveiled a trailer. Set in the Hunza Valley, “Barzakh” centers on a 76-year-old man who surprises his estranged children and grandchildren by announcing his engagement to the ghost of his first love. This revelation triggers a series of emotional confrontations as the family gathers, unsure how to respond to the situation.

Naman Ramachandran From accountant to acting powerhouse, Indian actor Vijay Sethupathi‘s 50-film journey has been anything but ordinary. The actor’s 50th film, the Tamil-language “Maharaja,” written and directed by Nithilan Saminathan (“Kurangu Bommai”), is an action-packed saga that blends thriller elements with family drama and has a father-daughter relationship at its core. It has emerged as one of the biggest Tamil hits of the year.

Naman Ramachandran “Second Chance,” the directorial debut of Indian filmmaker Subhadra Mahajan, has been picked up for international sales by Thailand-based Diversion ahead of its world premiere at the 2024 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The film is set to debut on July 2 in the festival’s Proxima Competition section. The film tells the story of Nia, a young woman from the city who returns to her family home in the western Himalayas after a decade-long absence.

Naman Ramachandran As the Indian film industry reaches the midpoint of 2024, Malayalam-language cinema from the southern state of Kerala has emerged as the breakout success story, while traditional powerhouse Bollywood recalibrates after an uneven start to the year. “This year has been the year of Malayalam cinema,” says former Disney India head and veteran producer Siddharth Roy Kapur in his half-yearly analysis of the Indian entertainment business for Variety.

Naman Ramachandran Creativeland Studios has tapped industry veteran Shobha Sant as its new CEO, Variety can reveal. Sant brings over 30 years of experience to the role, most recently serving as head of content alliances – films, at billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Studios. In her new position, Sant will lead Creativeland’s filmed entertainment division and oversee the talent business of AIG-India, the joint venture between Creativeland Studios and Artist International Group.

Naman Ramachandran “Devi Chowdhurani,” helmed by Subhrajit Mitra, has become the first Bengali-language film to secure official Indo-U.K. co-production status. The period drama, starring Prosenjit Chatterjee and Srabanti Chatterjee alongside Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Arjun Chakraborty, Darshana Banik, Bibriti Chatterjee and Kinjal Nanda, is produced by Adited Motion Pictures (U.S./India) and LOK Arts Collective (India/U.K.), with the U.K.’s HC Films and Moringa Studios serving as co-producers.

Naman Ramachandran Peter Gabriel‘s Real World Records is set to release “Chain of Light,” a previously unheard album by Pakistani qawwali legend Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. The recordings, discovered in the label’s archives in 2021, date back to April 1990. The album features Khan with his eight-piece ensemble performing four traditional qawwalis (Sufi Islamic devotional songs), including one never-before-heard track.

Viggo Mortensen, Clive Owen, and Daniel Brühl will each receive Karlovy Vary’s Honorary Presidents Award during this year’s edition, which runs from June 28 to July 6. 

Naman Ramachandran India‘s Handmade Films has boarded two Indian shorts pitching at Annecy, “Hide & Seek” and “Rising Tides,” as producer. In addition, France’s NoJo Studio Animation will also serve as a producer on “Hide & Seek.” Both films are at the Annecy Animation Festival‘s MIFA Pitch and the Namaste MIFA initiative that focuses on India. “Rising Tides” is directed by Pari Satarkar and produced by India’s Studio Mikudi and Satarkar.

Naman Ramachandran In a significant development for the Indian entertainment industry, Artist International Group (AIG), under the leadership of David Unger, and Creativeland Studios, helmed by Sajan Raj Kurup, have unveiled a joint venture to establish AIG India. This new talent and production company aims to bridge the gap between Hollywood and India’s vibrant creative scene. AIG India will focus on discovering, nurturing, and promoting Indian talent across various artistic fields, leveraging AIG’s global reach and Creativeland Studios’ in-depth knowledge of the Indian market.

Katcy Stephan UTA has signed rising global star India Amarteifio for representation. In 2023, Amarteifio starred in the eight-part Netflix series “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story,” written and produced by Shonda Rhimes.

Naman Ramachandran India’s Dream Slate Pictures is commencing a biopic of Kiran Bedi, the first woman officer in the Indian Police Service (IPS). Formerly India’s national junior tennis champion, Bedi joined the IPS in 1972. She earned fame for her campaign against drug abuse in Delhi.

Naman Ramachandran Prime Video has unveiled the premiere date of the anticipated Season 3 of hit Indian series “Mirzapur.” Originally created by Karan Anshuman and Puneet Krishna, the crime thriller is a saga of power, revenge, ambition, politics, betrayal, deceit and complex family dynamics set in the badlands of northern India. Season 3 is written by Apurva Dhar Badgaiyann, Avinash Singh Tomar, Avinash Singh and Vijay Narayan Verma.

Lada Guruden Singh Steps Down From Sony Pictures India Role

Naman Ramachandran Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan has boarded his acting coach Vinod Rawat‘s feature directorial debut “Pushtaini” (“Ancestral”) as a presenter. Rawat, who previously directed Season 1 of Disney+ Hotstar’s Emmy-nominated series “Aarya” alongside Ram Madhvani, has served as Roshan’s acting coach since “Kaabil” (2017). In “Pushtaini,” Rawat stars as Bhuppi, a struggling actor who is desperate to secure his last chance at stardom after he finds himself caught in an embarrassing scandal.

Earlier this year, a documentary by the name of “Sugarcane” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and presented audiences with a harrowing look at the Canadian Indian residential school system and the emotional fallout stemming from years of horrendous abuse behind these doors. For those who may have bore witness to such a film, there’s an unusual sense of recurrence in the topics unveiled throughout “Missing From Fire Trail Road,“ one which starts as what could be initially presumed to be a simple look at a missing persons case from several years prior but eventually flows into strangely familiar territory.

Naman Ramachandran Indian cinema acting legend Amitabh Bachchan has shot a cameo in upcoming sequel “Fakt Purusho Maate.” The Gujarati-language film is a sequel to 2022 hit “Fakt Mahilao Maate,” where he had a leading role. In that film, a young man finds himself able to read the thoughts of all women and he decides to use this power to help others with their relationship problems. The sequel is a family drama that focuses on gender equality and conflicts between two generations.

Naman Ramachandran Indian cinema acting legend Amitabh Bachchan has shot a cameo in upcoming sequel “Fakt Purusho Maate.” The Gujarati-language film is a sequel to 2022 hit “Fakt Mahilao Maate,” where he had a leading role. In that film, a young man finds himself able to read the thoughts of all women and he decides to use this power to help others with their relationship problems. The sequel is a family drama that focuses on gender equality and conflicts between two generations.

Naman Ramachandran Indian animation will be in the spotlight across the 2024 Annecy Animation Festival. For the first time, Indian animation will feature at Namaste MIFA, a pitch event at MIFA (Marché International du Film d’Animation) in Annecy. The event, organized by Annecy-backed Indian animation festival AniMela and co-hosted by Assemblage Entertainment and Zebu Animation Studios, will present four work-in-progress projects reflecting diverse themes such as sports, food, gender and tradition.

Paper Flowers,” based on the story of 22-year-old Shalin Shah, whose battle with cancer garnered viral attention in 2015. The film will premiere June 20 at the Dances With Films Festival at the TLC Chinese Theater in Hollywood with two additional screenings taking place on June 26 at the London Indian Film Festival and the Birmingham Indian Film Festival.